


Damaged Merchandise

by todays_keysmash_is



Category: Life of the Party D&D (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Some outdated Mayes theory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:13:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25186978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/todays_keysmash_is/pseuds/todays_keysmash_is
Summary: The kelpie fight goes horribly wrong. Delphos Episode 8 AU
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Damaged Merchandise

The water solid under his feet, Icarus jumped out of the way to dodge as another kelpie threw its weight towards him, attempting to throw him to the ground. Glancing back, he saw Mayes standing on the surface of the water, completely incapacitated as they stared into the eyes of the kelpie below. Grabbing his holy symbol to break his ally out of their trance, the other kelpie by him jumped again, knocking him over. Landing on his back, the surface of the water hit him like concrete. As he lost consciousness for the third time this fight, he was vaguely aware of the sensation of the water beneath him turning to liquid once more, his body floating with the waves.

Pandora hurried across the small piece of rock, sending a blast of orange light into the kelpie tangling around Icarus. The creature was torn to ribbons, and she managed to pull the triton’s body up and onto their little island. Icarus woke to the familiar taste of potion draining down his throat, and he opened his eyes just in time to see yet another one of those creatures smack Pandora right off him.

Forcing himself to his feet, he grabbed his holy symbol and pressed a hand forward. Another bolt of lightning soared from his palm, slamming into the creature. The kelpie flailed, missing as it attempted a counterattack, and giving Icarus just enough time to pop open one of his own potions for Pandora, returning the favor.

The tiefling gasped as she came to. Icarus, leaning down over her, saw her point and shout at a figure behind them. Grabbing her shoulders, Icarus rolled them both to the side, and the mass of seaweed slammed down inches from them. Stabbing in his sword, the mound went still.

Icarus turned back to Pandora. “Are you okay?”

Pandora was searching the water around them with wide eyes. “Mayes! They got Mayes! We have to go down there!”

Icarus jumped to his feet and ran. Aiming for the last spot he had seen his friend, he dove, swimming as fast as he could muster despite the exhaustion. He searched desperately, and then made out a familiar shape, almost sixty feet down.

Icarus absolutely did not want to go near one of those things again, but he had no choice. Mayes had been transfixed by it before, unable to attack, but now they were completely unconscious. Even if Icarus could stabilize them, Mayes’ dual swords were long lost to the depths of the ocean by now. It was up to him to fix this.

Icarus swung out at the kelpie with Lorakai’s sword, the ghostly duplicate following along. Slashing into it, he could feel slimy tendrils licking at his heels, but he kicked them away. Filled with fear, he hacked at the creature until it was no more. Grabbing Mayes by the waist, he swam up.

Icarus was almost completely drained, and it took quite a great deal of effort to drag the unmoving body all the way back to the surface. After kicking and struggling with all his might, Icarus shoved Mayes up towards a familiar panicked orange face, who grabbed Mayes to pull them up and onto the little island as Icarus dragged himself over the ledge.

Icarus’s body forced him to pause on the edge of the rock, his legs still dangling in the water as he took heavy breaths, ears ringing, head pounding. There were only a few short moments of respite before Pandora called for him again, near hysterics.

“They’re not breathing!” she shrieked. “Icarus, they’re not breathing! Do something!”

Icarus yanked himself up and over the side of the rock, stumbling over. Pandora was pressing rhythmically down on Mayes’ chest, her tears pouring down to mix with the already waterlogged body below her. Icarus urged her to the side and took over himself, pressing down hard and fast on Mayes’ chest and leaning down to fill their lungs with air.

The average person could hold their breath for a minute or so, but not if they were incapacitated. Not if they had been unconscious.

He kept it up for about five minutes, anxiously waiting for Mayes to cough up the saltwater still filling their lungs, but there was no change. His movements slowed, and he leaned back, defeated.

“What are you doing!?” Pandora pushed him to the side, returning to the task. “We have to keep going!”

She picked up where he had left off, breathing down into Mayes. Icarus knew he was going to absolutely break later, but for now, his brain was on autopilot. He couldn’t give up yet.

“Revival magic,” he declared. “I’m just a regular level cleric, I can’t do anything that would really help, but I know it can be done. I’ve heard about it. We need to get to the Temple, right now. I don’t know much about it, but I know that revival magic is extremely time sensitive. We need to get on our horses and go, immediately.”

Pandora was still going at it, begging Mayes’ heart to beat as she pressed sharply down into their chest. “We can’t stop doing this! I’ve read about this, I’ve looked at the material for the other houses in my free time, and there was a book from Anterus that said people could still recover, even after a whole hour or more, if we just keep- ”

“Pandora, I’m  _ not _ asking.”

Pandora stumbled a bit in her rhythm, thrown off by Icarus’s harsh tone.

Icarus took that as an opportunity to pull Mayes away, hoisting them into his arms as he made for the edge of the rock. “We need to hurry. We need to move, right now.”

He took to the water again, pushing Mayes along. Pandora, startled and scared, froze for a moment before following. Mercifully, no more kelpies pursued them.

Icarus did his best to run with the body as his feet hit the shore, hurrying along to his horse.

“Help me with them,” he ordered, and the tiefling scurried up to his side to lift Mayes onto the triton’s horse.

Without waiting for Pandora to mount hers, Icarus turned to urge his horse forwards. They rode on at speed, Pandora right behind as Mayes’ empty horse followed, confused.

Precious minutes ticked by on the clock, and Icarus had a realization. The woman at the temple had been kind and helpful enough, but she hadn’t seemed all that powerful. In fact, none of the members of the Temple to Pelor had seemed particularly skilled, above the average. They could ride there, but if there was nobody in the Temple to help, they would be wasting irreplaceable time. If it had been a Temple to Kord herself, perhaps he would have found the faith to continue on the path, but Icarus made a different decision.

He yanked on the reins, jerking the horse to take a hard left.

Pandora called from behind, “Icarus, where are you going?”

Icarus pressed on. The adrenaline was starting to fade, and his emotions were beginning to creep in, but he had to keep going. There was no guarantee this new plan would work, either, but there were no other options.

Pandora, urging her horse on from behind, was struck with realization as they neared the far edge of town once more. “Icarus, no! We can’t! Please, let’s talk about this!”

Icarus pulled the reins again, and his horse skidded to a halt in front of Avra’s house. Jumping down, he pulled Mayes’ sopping wet body down into his arms, and kicked open the door.

“I know you’re here!” he called. He didn’t, but he hoped desperately that she was.

Her form materialized by the kitchen table, mid eye-roll. “The deal was that’d I’d come call on you, not the other way around.  _ Stop _ bothering me.”

She glanced over to him, seemingly bored until her face wrinkled in displeasure. “Get that nasty thing out of my house.” Then, she pointed at Mayes. “And that, too.”

A moment of confusion passed over Icarus’s face before he turned to realize that Pandora was there beside him, seething. Pandora grabbed Icarus’s arm. “We were just leaving.”

“No,” Icarus yanked away. Pandora looked visibly betrayed, but Icarus had to press on. There was no other choice. He turned back to Avra. “Look, we don’t know what you are, who you are, what you want, what you can do… You have all the cards here okay? I’m sure that’s what you wanted.”

“A real detective, aren’t we?” Avra raised a sardonic eyebrow. “And I’m sure I know what you want,” she tilted her head, examining the body. “A friend who’s a little more… lively?” she chuckled.

“So do you.”

“Even if I could do something about that- Which I  _ can’t, _ by the way- What makes you think I would?”

Icarus cleared his throat, already regretting this, but not enough to turn back. “Your deal was with Mayes. Without them, you don’t get your favor.”

“Oh, boo hoo. You think this is the first time I’ve had someone die on me before I’ve had my fun? Please. I was just going to send them off on a little errand, anyway. I can find someone else to take care of it for me, I’m sure. There’s probably a few strapping young lads in this very town who wouldn’t mind helping out the new girl,” she smirked.

“A favor from me, then.”

“You realize what you’re asking for is much more than a pair of rings, right? I’d need more than the same deal. Oh, and in case you’ve gone deaf,  _ I can’t do anything for them anyway. _ Get that through your thick skull.”

“You can,” Icarus argued. “You have to. You’re powerful, there has to be something.”

Avra frowned, appraising Mayes’ limp body. “Why would you want damaged merchandise, anyway? You all heard what I said before. I’ll admit, I’ve told a few lies in my day, but that was the truth,” she gave a bitter laugh. “That is one nasty looking soul.”

Icarus’s eyes flashed as a horrible, terrible idea came to him. Pandora put another hand on his arm, noticing the expression and trying to talk him down, but he pushed her off again.

He stepped forward. “My soul.”

Avra quirked a brow.

“You said before, you could ask for a soul, if you wanted. That’s better than a favor.”

Her interest renewed, Avra sat straighter in the chair. “Interesting…” she mused, examining Mayes’ body a moment longer. “I may have an idea, in that case. But it’s not going to be wonderful for me,” she frowned a moment, and then leaned back to offer another flirtatious smile. “Your soul, sure. I’m going to need you to sweeten the pot, though. A favor from you, as well as her,” she nodded over to Pandora, “Might as well get you in on the action, huh, sweetheart?”

“Don’t call me sweetheart,” Pandora snapped.

Avra chuckled again, and then spoke in Infernal.  _ “Sure thing, sweetheart.” _

Pandora turned to the triton. “Icarus, she’s taking advantage of us. She knows we’re desperate, she’s just going to keep on talking. And you heard her, she can’t even do anything!”

“Yes she can. She said she had an idea, and that’s better than nothing. And we  _ are _ desperate, Pandora, in case you hadn’t noticed,” he hissed.

Pandora was thoroughly taken aback. This was not the Icarus she knew, and this new personality did not suit him well.

Icarus turned back to Avra. “We’ll take it, fine.”

“You speak for her?” Avra grinned, amused.

Icarus opened his mouth, then shut it, turning to look at Pandora. As she studied him, Pandora could see the briefest flash of the old Icarus, scared and begging.

She sighed, giving him a sad look before stepping forward. “I’ll accept.”

Avra’s grin split somehow wider, almost disturbing for a second before her usual distracting beauty returned. She shook Pandora’s hand, “A favor.”

She shook Icarus’s, “A favor,” and then planted another head-splitting kiss on his lips. “And a soul.”

She pulled back, regarding them for a moment. “Be back in a flash.”

She disappeared, and they were left alone in the house.

Neither of them spoke.

  
  


After about five minutes, Avra reappeared looking surprisingly ragged. She didn’t seem to have been in a fight, but she looked thoroughly shaken as she caught her breath. “That was not worth it,” she hissed, turning to glare at them. “You two better be ready for one  _ hell _ of a favor. Oh, and this doesn’t cancel out Mayes’ deal either, if they come back. You three owe me,  _ big time." _

Pandora studied her, concerned. “What did you do?”

“I talked to them about it.”

“Mayes?”

“No, not Mayes, you idiot,” she sneered. “Anyway, they’re a bit slow. Probably hadn’t quite realized what had happened yet. They were… not pleased, when I informed them. Either your friend will wake up or they won’t, but if they do, you don’t have long. Get them to the beach, tell them they got knocked out or something.”

“We’re not going to lie to our friend,” Pandora defended.

“Oh really? You’re not?” Avra mocked. Suddenly, her form shifted. A copy of Mayes stood in front of them, speaking in their voice. “Wait, you guys did what? Oh my golly gosh gee whiz! I am now mad at you for saving me,” Avra draped herself dramatically over the kitchen table, exaggeratedly rolling about. “This is terrible! I am now burdened with guilt, and I no longer trust my allies!”

“Stop it!” Pandora demanded.

Avra dropped Mayes’ form and folded her arms. “No skin off my back if you don’t, but that’s what I’d recommend. You should hurry.”

With that, she disappeared.

“...She’s right,” Icarus mumbled. “They’re going to feel guilty about this. We need to go.”

Pandora was going to argue passionately that Mayes had a right to know about this later. But for now, she was just so, so very tired. She didn’t have it in her to fight with him on this just yet.

They rode back to the beach.

Laying Mayes down in the sand, a safe distance away from the water, they sat to wait. Growing anxious as the minutes slipped by, Mayes’ body suddenly began to glow a sickly green. Smoky black ropes coiled around them as Icarus and Pandora scooted away on the sand. It definitely did not look like healing magic, but it was something.

After a few moments of the eerie colors pulsing through their body, the lights suddenly stopped.

Mayes opened their eyes.

Pandora moved closer, examining them. “...Mayes? Are you okay?”

“How do you feel?” Icarus worried.

Mayes blinked. “...Ow.”

Pandora sighed in relief, allowing herself to fall down next to them in the soft sand.

Mayes leaned up on their elbows, rubbing their head. “What the hell happened?”

“The kelpies,” Icarus covered. “They knocked you out, but, we were able to stabilize you. There might be more, but we took out at least five of them.”

Mayes was usually a master at detecting the slightest twinges of inflection and the barest of facial cues that betrayed a lie. However, coming back from the dead took quite a lot out of a person, and Mayes seemed to accept his words.

They pulled themselves to their feet, clutching their shoulders. “Oh  _ shit _ …” They let out a hiss of pain, sucking the air in through their teeth. “That really fucking hurts, holy  _ crap _ …”

“We need to take a rest. We should go back to the farm, regroup there for the night. Here, do you want to ride with me?” Icarus offered. “You should ride with me, it’s fine, you’ve just taken a real beating. Come on,” he put a guiding hand on Mayes’ back, leading them to the horse and helping them up as Mayes groaned.

They made the long journey back to the farm, where they were once again greeted by the sweet old couple, offering them dinner and beds. Mayes looked absolutely awful.

  
  


As she laid in her bed that night, Pandora couldn’t shake the feeling of worry. She had been completely drained earlier, unable to muster the strength for a single spell more, but now she was ready.

Silently, she crept out of her room and snuck down the hall to where Mayes was resting. Holding her breath, she pressed against the wooden door, and it swung silently open.

Mayes was lying in the bed, facing away from her, and breathing evenly in sleep.

Pandora gulped, closed her eyes, and sent out the spell.

When she opened her eyes again, she could see it.

The spirit on Mayes’ back had almost tripled in size, as if it was crushing them down, smothering them into the pillow. Rotten bits of flesh hung off of it, with pieces of muscle and bone exposed and bleeding brown. Where the spirit had been passively sitting before, it was now actively digging the few fingernails it had into Mayes’ shoulders, and biting with shattered teeth at the back of their neck.

As the tiefling stifled a gag, she suddenly understood. This thing had wanted Mayes alive, but not out of the goodness of its heart.

  
  


It wanted Mayes to  _ suffer. _


End file.
